


The Passing There

by Daughter_Of_Jove



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, Pre-Series, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-16
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-17 14:06:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2312306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_Of_Jove/pseuds/Daughter_Of_Jove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from: http://asylums.insanejournal.com/sga_prompt/1490.html. Write an SGA fic based on your interpretation of Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken. </p><p>John's choices take him down some less-traveled roads on the way to Atlantis, and to the kind of person he wants to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Passing There

Seventeen-year-old John Sheppard walked in the door, threw his keys in the bowl, and raced up the stairs to his room. Kicking his shoes and his book bag to the door, he eagerly went to his desk. Yes! Thank God for his co-conspirator, Sally, their live-in maid. He didn't have to rush home every day to beat Dad to his mail. There on his blotter was a letter from the United States Air Force Academy. And under it, he saw, two more: one from Harvard, the other from Stanford. Ignoring the other letters, he tore open USAF Academy letter. 

He got in! 

Letting out a whoop, he gave a quick dance around the room, jumping up and off his bed like a little kid, stumbling into the wall - ouch! - but he was too excited to care. 'I got in!' Already he could visualize himself flying an F-15 Eagle, going over 2.5 Mach speed, the g-forces pushing him into his seat, dogfighting with the likes of Maverick and Ice. Better, even! F-14 Tomcats were a generation behind. 

He went to tell the housekeeper Sally the good news. 

***

"And this is the path you must take? You are going to tear your father's heart out, moving all the way to Colorado Springs. Why can't you stay in-state?" 

"Dad doesn't care if I'm in-state! He wants me to go all the way across the country to Cambridge. I thought you were on my side."

"I support your right to make your own choices. That doesn't mean I think you are making the right one. Look, I know you don't want to go to Harvard. But surely you can compromise with your father, attend a good school closer to what he wants. Why not try a good school like Stanford? Did you even open the letter to see if you were accepted there?" 

"No," he mumbled. 

"Well, I'm sure you were accepted."

"But I don't want to go to Stanford, either. Joining the Air Force isn't a whim or a hobby. I want it to be my career!"

"And Stanford doesn't have an ROTC program? You couldn't still join the Air Force from there?"

"It's not as serious a program. And besides, anyone can do that! People who are serious about their career go to the Academy. ROTC is the lesser path, and less-traveled for a reason, at least by serious candidates."

Sally laughed. "My boy, all paths are equal, and equally traveled. I can assure you that plenty of careerists went the ROTC route and did just fine. You want to study math, and Stanford has a better mathematics department. Plus, if you went there, you would have four more years of my cooking, since you'll be able to visit more often." Then she got serious. "All joking aside, you would get four more years to strengthen your relationship with your father. That's important, John. For better or worse, your relationship with him will help shape you as a human being. I know you want to cut and run, but if you really believe in service before self, then maybe you ought to start in your own home." 

John lowered his gaze. "He won't meet my halfway."

"That's entirely possible. But at least it won't be because you didn't try. Just think about it."

John went back to his room and grabbed the letter, then lay back in bed. He pulled the unopened Stanford letter to his chest, and considered. 

*SGA*SGA*SGA

In spite of the fierce competition, John had made it into the pilots program. His dream of flying Eagles in combat, or Grummans at test pilot, was one step closer to reality. And instead of steering him to towards jets, the officer in front of him was asking him to be a rotor head! 

"I know fast jets seem more exciting than helos, but the truth is, as most pilots will tell you, we fly fixed wing for work, but we fly helos for fun. They're more challenging to fly. Of course, that isn't bringing combat conditions into the equation. Fun and games aside, we need helicopter pilots more and more, to support our boys on the ground. And as a helo pilot, you will definitely see combat. It's the less glamorous path, but if you think about it, it's where your duty lies."

*SGA*SGA*SGA

John dropped General O'Neill off at McMurdo and went for a walk outside. Did he maybe want to take a one-way ticket to another galaxy, face God-knows-what, and risk never seeing Earth again? Would there even be anything to do in his capacity as a pilot? Being a full-time guinea pig did not sound fun. 

"I think people who don 't want to go through the Stargate are equally whacked." The General's words echoed through his ears. Imagined alien worlds raced before his eyes. Talk about the path less travelled. John pulled a coin from his pocket, and contemplated. Stanford or Academy? Rotor or jet? Head or tail?

**Author's Note:**

> The irony here is that this poem is widely misunderstood. Frost was poking fun at the hipster counter-culture (or its then equivalent) for thinking they were doing something unique ("I took the [road] less traveled and that has made all the difference") when in reality that path was as well trod as any other ("though as for that the passage there had worn them really about the same"). He was saying there was no difference except in their own minds. He was poking fun at their arrogance. "There is nothing new under the sun.” 
> 
> Thanks to https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120109164441AATkdYg for info on helos vs jets, and to http://www.livescience.com/39829-fastest-military-airplanes.html and http://www.diffen.com/difference/F-14_vs_F-15 for info on types of jets. I also borrowed Sally from The Sentinel (TV). 
> 
> I'm sorry for any inaccuracies as regards cannon. I've never seen the whole series, and it's been ages since I've seen the pilot. 
> 
> I also made some changes to this version of the fix (original posted on http://asylums.insanejournal.com/sga_prompt/1490.html) since that site had character limits and I had to crop what I wrote. 
> 
> And a response challenge: Stargate Atlantis: interpret "All Roads Lead to Rome"


End file.
